Leave to Return
by TaliaFox
Summary: Thor gets badly injured while on a routine mission. He's taken to Asgard and the team is left to wait and wonder. Hurt!Thor


Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, just the idea for the plot.

 **Leave to Return**

It was supposed to be easy. But when is it ever easy?

Tony winced as he sat up, his suit squealing with the movement. His hands found the dirt ground as he shifted to his hands and knees.

"Stark?" A small voice and cough interrupted Tony's moment of peace.

He lifted his head, bleary eyes scanning the rocky terrain until he found the source of the voice. "Cap," he called, voice hoarse as he dragged himself to the man.

His face mask shifted back as he made it to Steve, and Tony put a metal hand on his shoulder, trying to rouse the man.

Steve's eyes meet his, determination filling them as Cap grunted and pulled himself in a sitting position.

He looked around, and Tony took the opportunity to get their surroundings in mind. They were in a medium-sized hole, big enough to create space around them, but no so large it would take a long time to get to surface. Rocks jutted out from the sides. Pieces of metal, large and small, scattered around the terrain.

"What happened?" Steve asked finally, one hand reaching back to make sure his shield was with him.

"The ... the, uh, bomb, right? There was a bomb," Tony decided, stretching his neck to look into the sky.

Steve cursed, remembering.

"Language," Tony chided with a grin that promptly fell with the glare sent his way.

"Rogers! Stark! Banner-"

"We're here!" Cap called back, fighting the tickle rising in his throat.

Tony and Steve stumbled up, dust rising in a small cloud as the trudged up the small ridge. They met Clint and Natasha halfway. Cling's left arm had some blood running freely from it, similar to the head wound Natasha suffered. They both had dirt covering their bodies, and the other two teammates knew they looked alike.

"What happened?" Clint asked, glancing around out of habit, taking in the craters like the one Steve and Tony crawled out of.

"It was a trap. There were a few Hydra bombs," Steve briefed, looking around for something different than Clint. "Where's everyone else?"

"No idea. I woke up, found Nat, then you two," Clint muttered, flexing his fingers.

"Hello?"

Four heads whipped to the sound.

"Banner?" They called back, running towards the voice as he appeared from a large crater.

"You guys okay?" Banner asked with a cough.

"Bumps and bruises."

"You?" Natasha asked.

"I'm fine. The other guy took most of the damage from the fall."

"Now we're just missing Thor," Tony muttered. "JARVIS, scan for Thor's heat signature."

Tony was soon leading the group of weary warriors to their last member.

Tony pointed to a hole in the ground not too far away. "He's just over here. Hey, Point Break! You awake?"

"I am," a voice returned.

"Why didn't you come say hi?" Tony asked as they got closer.

"I'm afraid I cannot, at the moment." A grunt of pain was heard from the dugout.

Banner realized the situation before anyone else, and disappeared down the hole before the others reached it.

"Oh, God," Steve murmured, halting at the edge of the crater. The other three members fanned out on the ledge, too, all taking a moment to stare at what they were facing.

Thor laid towards the far end of the rigid hole, and an arm-sized pole stuck out of his chest.

"It's gone through the ground, too," Bruce reported as he examined the damage.

This spurred the team into action, sliding down the wall of the hole and to their teammate.

Bruce and Tony quickly conversed off to the side, trading information with each other and JARVIS, who read Thor's vital signs.

"Hey, Thor. How did you get yourself in this mess?" Clint asked as he, Natasha, and Steve knelt by him.

"It seems part of the bomb's container was pushed into me when it went off," Thor informed, turning to look at his friends.

"Literally into you," Clint muttered.

"Just relax, Thor. SHIELD's probably on their way, and Banner and Stark have this covered.

"Indeed," Thor murmured, squeezing his eyes closed for a brief moment. Then he coughed, and crimson liquid splattered on his lips.

Steve made eye contact with the two SHIELD agents.

Natasha excused herself, making her way to the two conversing scientists while Steve took a shaky breathe a said again, "Just relax." He gripped his arm in support.

"Hey, Big Guy. We're gonna have to cut the pole and-" Tony was interrupted by a large beam of light crashing down above them.

"Move aside. Now," a voice commanded as four women trod down the ledge into the crater.

Everyone went into fight mode. Steve held his shield, Tony's repulsor wad ready to fire, Natasha held her gun, and Clint his bow.

"Lady Sif," Thor rasped as he laid eyes upon his friend.

"I've brought healers, we're ready to take you to Asgard." She knelt by his head when the Avengers let her pass.

"You're in luck the Allfather held a meeting and you were not in attendance. He looked upon you to find your distress, you foolish prince," she muttered to him while Thor smiled briefly, but it quickly turned into a grimace.

"Wait a minute. You're taking him where?" Tony asked.

"Move back so we can save his life," Sif growled, glaring at them.

Banner quickly backed up, motioning for the others to do the same. "It's his best option," all he offered.

Thor was whisked up in a beam of light.

A SHIELD team arrive two and a half hours later.

The team waited for news on their teammate and friend.

"I didn't think it would be him," Tony said a week later as the team sat around an open room.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked, setting down the book he was reading and focusing on what was being said.

"I mean, he's a freaking god. I didn't expect him to ever be down, you know?" Tony shook his head, turning away from his project at a table and looking into the vast expanse of the sky, as if willing need to come down from Asgard.

Two and a half months passed with no news. They all coped in their own ways, and some hid their worries better than others. But, when the portal opened again, the Avengers rushed out to greet any visitor.

"Thor!" Steve shouted when they saw their friend striding towards them, as if nothing had happened.

"Nice to see you, Goldilocks. We haven't heard anything for months? Do Asgardians not have a system of communication?" Tony immediately asked.

"I apologize, my friends. My people are not as open to communications with ... certain planets as I am," Thor said, careful to phrase his words correctly.

"Right. Just, don't ever do that again, Demigod."


End file.
